Base of Operations: (formerly) Hidden base within a volcano on a tropical
island; (currently) court rooms in an unspecified US city

First Appearance: Birdman and the Galaxy Trio - Birdman Episode #1
"The Menace Of Dr. Millennium" (Hanna-Barbera
for NBC, 9th September 1967)

Other Appearances: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law

Powers/Abilities: Birdman could fly, fire powerful "solar ray" blasts
from his hands, and project a "solar shield" to deflect attacks. He has to
recharge his powers regularly with sunlight, or he loses them.

History: (Birdman and the Galaxy Trio) Ray Randall was a secret agent
chosen by the high priests of the Egyptian sun god Ra to be their god's emissary
on Earth and battle evil in his name. Imbuing Ray with a selection of
superpowers, they transformed him into Birdman so that he could shine "the
light of justice" on evil-doers the world over. Ray could activate these
powers by shouting out his name (which he did this lot..."Biiiiiirdman!").
Returning to America, he set up shop in a hidden volcano base, taking missions
from his agency contact, the mysterious, eye-patch wearing Falcon 7, who
would contact him over a video link to give him mission briefings. His most
common stomping grounds away from his base was Central City.

He was accompanied by his eagle Avenger and often by his sidekick Birdboy,
whom he first met when the young lad was near death from exposure, having
been stuck in a raft in the open sea for a considerable length of time. He
gave the boy a portion of his powers to save the lad's life (although the
lad used mechanical wings to fly). There was also a Birdgirl, created by
his enemy Dr. Mentaur to destroy the hero, but who realised she was being
manipulated by a villain and became one of the good guys instead.

Comments: The show was created by Alex Toth, with Birdman voiced by
Keith Andes, and Birdboy being handled by Dick Beals. Falcon 7 was handled
by Don Messick. The character is copyright to Hanna-Barbera.

Birdman shared his airtime with the Galaxy Trio.
Birdman's adventures would bookend the show, with a segment of the Galaxy
Trip fitted in between. Although the ratings were good, the show was cancelled
because of pressure to reduce violence on Saturday morning TV. The last episode
aired on 28th December 1968 There were forty episodes in total.

Recently Birdman
returned in the new cartoon "Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law", which premiered
on the Cartoon Network on December 30, 2000 and began airing as a regular
series on September 23, 2001. Birdman is now an attorney, defending other
cartoon characters (such as the episode where he defends the Tony Soprano-like
Fred Flintstone). The creators of Harvey Birdman are Michael Ouweelen and
Erik Richter, and Birdman is now voiced by Gary Cole. Other characters in
his law firm include both Birdboy and Falcon-7 (see their entries), plus
Blue Falcon and Dynomutt (whom Birdman is later accused of murdering).

Birdman has also made a handful of comic appearances, in Gold Key's Hanna-Barbera
Super TV Heroes # 1-5 (1968-69) and Cartoon Network Presents #5 and #9 (1997
and 1998). In Hanna-Barbera STVH #2 he finally got to team up with fellow
heroes The Galaxy Trio, with whom he shared a TV time slot, in order to battle
Dr.Toxic.

Avenger

Real Name: Avenger

Identity/Class: Eagle

Occupation: Sidekick to Birdman

Affiliations: Birdman, Birdboy

Enemies: same as Birdman

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None known

Base of Operations: same as Birdman

First Appearance: Birdman Episode #1 "The Menace Of Dr. Millennium"
(Hanna-Barbera for NBC, 9th September 1967)

Powers/Abilities: Extremely strong (able to carry a full grown man).
Able to fly at incredible speeds.

History: Avenger is Birdman's loyal partner. How the two came to be
together isn't explained in the cartoon - he's with Birdman from the first
adventure. Birdman keeps in contact with Avenger via a communication device
the eagle wears on its neck. He is often called in to rescue Birdman
when the hero's solar powers run out.

Comments: None

Falcon 7

Real Name: Unknown

Identity/Class: Normal human

Occupation: Government operative

Affiliations: Birdman, Birdboy, Avenger

Enemies: same as Birdman

Known Relatives: None known

Aliases: Phil Ken Sebben, The Boss

Base of Operations: Unknown

First Appearance: Birdman Episode #1 "The Menace Of Dr. Millennium"
(Hanna-Barbera for NBC, 9th September 1967)

Powers/Abilities: None known.

History: Falcon-7 is Birdman's contact with the agency he works for.
He generally calls up Birdman on a remote television link to give him mission
briefings at the start of adventures.

Comments: Falcon 7 was voiced by Don Messick.

In Harvey Birdman, the hero-turned-lawyer works for a man with an eye-patch
and tuxedo, whom he calls "The Boss". This man, clearly based on Falcon-7,
is also sometimes called Phil Ken Sebben.

Birdboy

Real Name: Unknown

Identity/Class: Mutated human

Occupation: Sidekick to Birdman

Affiliations: Birdman, Birdboy

Enemies: same as Birdman

Known Relatives: None known

Aliases: Peanut

Base of Operations: same as Birdman

First Appearance: Birdman "Revenge of Dr. Millennium"

Powers/Abilities: Birdboy has similar powers to those of Birdman.
He lacks the natural wings sported by his mentor, and uses mechanical ones
instead.

History: When an unidentified pirate destroys a ship using an
armoured vessel which looks like an island, the only survivor is a young
boy. Birdman rescues him from a raft floating in shark infested waters, but
finds the lad near to death from exposure. In order to save his life, the
hero transferred some of his own energies to the victim, reviving him, and
also giving him powers similar to those of Birdman. This proves fortunate
when Birdman himself becomes a captive of the villain, and the newly
created Birdboy has to come to his rescue. Thereafter he helps Birdman and
Avenger on several of their missions

Comments: Birdboy was voiced by Dick Beals. While his first appearance
was in "Revenge of Dr.Millennium", we didn't learn the character's origin
until several episodes later, in "Birdman meets Birdboy".

Like Birdman, Birdboy has reappeared in the Harvey Birdman cartoon,
as Harvey's clerk, Peanut (the name he was also called by in his very
first episode of Birdman).

History: Birdgirl used to be an aerialist until one of Birdman's foes,
Dr Mentaur, kidnapped and hypnotised her to use as a pawn against his heroic
enemy. He transformed the young woman into Birdgirl, a heroine deliberately
based on Birdman, and convinced her that the hero was evil. He then sent
her out to claim credit for Birdman's heroic deeds. Using his unwitting dupe
as a lure, he had Birdgirl steal a hydrogen bomb, and Birdman, already curious,
pursued her straight into a trap. Cut off from sunlight and drained
of his powers, Birdman managed to reach through Birdgirl's
hypnotic conditioning and convinced her to release him. With his strength
renewed, the hero and his new ally then went after Mentaur, who appeared
to die in an explosion caused by a deflected shell.

Comments: Like her counterparts in the original cartoon, Birdgirl
has now shown up in Harvey Birdman. Cody Michel explains..."Last week's
episode of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law included the first appearance
of Bird Girl (they spelled it with a space between "Bird & "Girl". It
was the name of the episode.) Her name was Judy and she was Phil Ken Sebben's
daughter. She was brought to work because it was "Take Phil's Daughter to
Work Day".

She showed aggressive interest in Harvey, ran out of the room, came back
unrecognized as Bird Girl and imposed on Harvey the name of "Bird Team".
He was reluctant and sent her away, but in the end she proved herself and
she became his "trusty legal sidekick". To me, it was reminiscent of Batman,
in how Batgirl was Commissioner Gordon's daughter in several incarnations
of the character."